Black Nationalism Notes

·Four levels of Black Impetusesinto the American Struggle for Black Inclusion and Power <o:p></o:p>

oRace Avoiders/Accommodationists-Group of Blacks that tried to get along and did not want to agitate the system. Attempted to avoid controversy and direct action, but believed that in due time things would improve if Blacks demonstrated self-sufficiency and independence. i.e. Booker T. Washington, modern day entertainers and athletes<o:p></o:p>

oIntegrationists-Group of Blacks that protested to whites asking for fair and equal treatment i.e. civil rights and integration into the mainstream of American life i.e. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. NAACP, Urban League,<o:p></o:p>

oBlack Nationalists-Group of Blacks who were deemed to be militant by using radical means, but called for separation from the dominant U.S. culturemainly concerned about Blacks in the U.S. i.e. Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad Ili, Nation of Islam, Deacons of Defense, Black Panthers etc. Universal Negro Improvement Association etc.<o:p></o:p>

oPan Africanists- Group of Blacks who believed that the plight of American Blacks could be tied and merged with the plight of Blacks and African people in Africa and everywhere. A greater degree of Black Nationalism i.e. Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Ronald Walters<o:p></o:p>

According to John H. Bracey, Jr. in Black Nationalism Since Garvey there are about 6 or 7 different types of Black Nationalism<o:p></o:p>

1)Racial Solidarity –this is the most basic and simplest form of Black Nationalism. It involves the belief that black people are bound to each other by their common color and condition of oppression and should utilize their group strength to alleviate their oppression.<o:p></o:p>

2)Cultural Nationalism- a more complex belief that Black people in the U.S. and elsewhere share a culture, style of life, aesthetic standard, and world view distinct from that of white Americans and Europeans. Celebration of Kwanzaa is an example.<o:p></o:p>

3)Religious Nationalism- Another level of complexity regarding Black Nationalism that argues that Blacks should practice a distinct belief in a Black religion or church, or denomination i.e. Black Muslim’s Nation of Islam, African Methodist Episcopal Church etc.<o:p></o:p>

4)Economic Nationalism-It embraces the full spectrum of economic thought from pre-industrial African communalism to Marxian socialism. Here Black bourgeois nationalists or black capitalists advocate either gaining control over the Black sector of the American market or establishing a completely Black capitalist economy parallel to American capitalism.Usually these are people who want to establish pre-industrial and pre-capitalist African communal forms. Example Elijah Muhammad created some of this with their Muslim stores and communities. Semblances of it in 1960s prior to integration. <o:p></o:p>

5)Political Nationalism- In its mildest form is known as a) Black ethnic politics based on liberal reformist assumptions. Advocates assume that politically the U.S. is pluralistic and liberal. They have demands for more Black representation for Black political and administrative control over the local areas where Blacks predominate are manifestations of this view. B) a more radical view is Revolutionary Nationalism- it advocates the overthrowing of existing political and economic institutions as a prerequisite for the liberation of Black Americans.<o:p></o:p>

6)Territorial (separatism) Nationalism-Here the argument is made for Blacks to emigrate back to Africa. On the other hand, Blacks should establish a sovereign Black political and economic vibrant town, state or nation with the present territorial limits of the United States. A milder form is to just have Blacks control their own communities and neighborhoods economically, politically, socially, and culturally. <o:p></o:p>

7)Pan-Africanism- This is the most comprehensive and sophisticated form of Black Nationalism. It is broad and asserts that people of African descent throughout the world share cultural characteristics and social conditions as a result of their African origins: their political oppression and economic exploitation by Europeans and Americans, and their stigmatization by the racial attitudes, theories, and behavior of Western civilization.<o:p></o:p>